


What The Water Gave Us

by alittleblueringoctopus



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, If your girl isn't a little unhinged then what are you even doing, Knight Adora (She-Ra), LOOSELY inspired by arthurian legend where Nimueh gives arthur excalibur, Lady of the Lake - Freeform, Lake lady catra, Witchcraft, catra is not a cat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28107705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittleblueringoctopus/pseuds/alittleblueringoctopus
Summary: In order to aid the rebellion, Adora has left Brightmoon to gather intelligence in the distant town of Fright which lies in the shadow of one of the Horde’s fortresses.The townspeople are well known across Etheria as supporters of the Horde and are notoriously hostile to outsiders. The mission is already difficult enough without the realisation that these people are afraid of something, something from the lake.But hey, the enemy of her enemy is her friend, right?(The Horde thinks they know how to deal with witches but they bit off more than they can chew this time)
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	What The Water Gave Us

PROLOGUE

_The Horde had never taken kindly to women who got above themselves. The way things were, the way things had always been, suited them just fine._

_Still, it seemed there was always some upstart that just couldn’t stay in line. And it only takes one for the poison to set in and ruin the lot._

_The dreaded corruption begins subtly, girls reading things they ought not to read, learning things they ought not learn._

_The small acts of rebellion grow once the aversion for the natural order takes hold, when the disdain for the way things should be becomes entrenched. It’s teas and treatments brewed for womanly ailments, the sheltering of runaway brides and disobedient wives. Every action becomes a thumbed nose at their betters._

_They make it their business to disrupt the natural order._

_Women like that aren’t real women. Not when they have no husband, no children, no respect for authority, no propriety. Unnatural. Surely, they aren’t of this world any longer._

_There’s only one thing to do with them. A fair trial of course. A test._

_Carry the girl to the water, wait to see if she floats._

_(they never do.)_

_“It was the only way,” the townspeople declared. “At least we know she wasn’t a witch.”_

_(A critical error made on their part.)_

_And while the condemned girl descended, inevitably down toward the lake bed, squirming as her lungs filled with water and her heart filled with hurt; the people of the Horde returned home, their hearts filled with relief at the danger quashed. They slept soundly in their beds safe in the knowledge that they had defended their town successfully and no witchcraft would threaten them again._

_(They didn’t know anything about witches. Not really)_

_That was their first mistake._

* * *

Adora did not like the meat stall. She could hunt, sure, but the crucial difference between hunting and her current situation was that when she hunted, she got to eat the meat when it was very fresh. Fresh enough you’d check that it wasn’t still alive. These carcasses however? They had been here for a while. Not that she was advertising that fact to the customers.

Bow, much like Adora, also appeared to be nearing the end of his tolerance for hot meat smell and the flies.

 _Oh goddess, the flies_.

Glimmer was holding up surprisingly well but that probably had something to do with the sniffly nose she’d been complaining about. Maybe they should be thankful she hasn’t sneezed on anyone yet.

Adora just had to stick it out for another hour or so, then it would reach a reasonable time in the afternoon for stall owners to pack up. They could take away their wares, disassemble their makeshift store and return to the inn just like any travelling traders. Totally natural, definitely nothing to be suspicious of.

 _Then we can finally take a crack at actually doing something useful,_ she thinks, _just gotta stay put until nightfall._

A few townspeople did come by to make purchases but a decent amount just passed them with suspicious stares, some going so far as to approach the stall and question them. Quite aggressively too, which under normal circumstances would lead to Bow and Adora both hauling Glimmer out of a fist fight. That would for sure get them chased out of a town as paranoid as this one, at a minimum failing the mission if not entirely blowing their cover. Glimmer isn’t the most discrete and she probably wouldn’t be able to resist throwing at least one ‘Horde Scum’ in there, which would expose them real quick.

Unfortunately Bow had been preoccupied with another customer when one such suspicious person came to give them a talking to and Adora herself had, how should she say, issues with deception? Performance anxiety? Stage fright? Look, she’s a bad actor and she knows it. That left soothing this guy to Glimmer.

 _And look at her go,_ she muses, _Angella would be proud of how well Glim is keeping her cool. Maybe I’ll let her know when we get back home? As evidence of her personal growth?_

Then she thinks back to the last time she talked to Angella about Glimmer without Glimmer there. _On second thought, I’ll leave them to themselves. Gotta keep my strict no interference between friends and their parental figures policy in place._

The angry man left not smiling perhaps, but without the deep mistrust he had when he arrived. Knowing this place, he likely would’ve been more content dealing with Bow but the wedding ring on Glimmer’s finger must have appeased him.

Glimmer waits until the guy is out of earshot to drop her customer service façade and go “Ugh, I hate this town.” She plonks back down onto her stool, “Also? Fuck that guy in particular.”

Adora smiles at this reaction, “you did well though, I think you had him convinced.”

“Mmm I am pretty good, aren’t I? Still wish he could keep his keep his eyeline above my chest and _maybe_ try not talking down to every woman he comes across. Truly, I develop a new level of respect for merchant women every day.”

Finally having completed his sale, Bow joins them on the stools, pressing a kiss to Glimmers head as he does so.

“You guys ready to close up shop now or what?” He asks. Adora looks around and notices all the other stalls cleaning up and heading out.

Needing no further encouragement to escape, they pack up their things in record time and head back to the inn just as the sun is starting to get low in the sky.

Then night falls.

* * *

The streets are… surprisingly quiet for this early in the evening. In any other town there would still be bustle in and out of shops and taverns, horses and carts travelling over the cobblestones, children running along home. Instead, the trio is met with windows closing, lamps being put out and people heading indoors. The atmosphere is unusually subdued considering the sun has only just set.

There are still some stragglers in the pub area of the inn but even they seem to be finishing up. It feels off.

 _Not to mention it could make our job harder_ , Adora grumbles internally, _being the only people sneaking around at night makes us that much more identifiable if things go wrong._

“Not much nightlife around here, huh?” Bow says, approaching the innkeeper. The woman certainly looks imposing in the lantern light, but Bow maintains his friendly air nonetheless. Not that Adora feels threatened herself, of course. She would probably describe her current feelings a _little_ differently. Anyway.

“You could say that.” she responds, looking up from the glasses she’s polishing. “People are feeling superstitious lately.”

“Lately?” Glimmer queries, “Did something happen?”

The innkeeper shrugs, returning to the glasses in front of her. The trio exchange glances, trying to decide if they should push the issue further, when a voice down the counter calls out “C’mon, Tell ‘em Huntara!”

“Mind your business Grizzlor,” she shoots back.

“No, no, no, why hide it? Huh? People dead in their beds when they shouldn’t be? Why keep it down, down so low?”

It has become evident that this Grizzlor guy has gone through quite a few drinks this evening. He’s also evidently reached the end of Huntara’s patience. Scowling, the big lady strides over and grabs his drink off him, the confiscation of his booze and her demeanour a clear indicator that it’s time for him to leave. He sulks as he shuffles out.

_People dead in their beds huh? And it can’t be natural causes if it’s got the whole town spooked like this._

Adora steps forward, leaning on the bar counter. “Look, we aren’t here to cause trouble, but if there’s something going on that might put us in danger then we just want to know to keep clear of it.”

Huntara gives her a hard look before sighing, “Honestly I can’t tell you much because I don’t know much myself.”

Adora doesn’t move from her spot, just keeps quiet, waiting for the tough looking innkeeper to continue. Huntara doesn’t.

After a moment Adora decides to leave it be, “Ok well, can we have a bottle of rum to take to the room? We won’t stop you from closing up any longer.” Once they have their booze the trio start to head up the stairs, leaving Huntara at the bar.

“Just make sure you lock your door tonight, yeah Blondie?” they hear her call out at the last second, “Can never hurt to be careful anyway.”

The three of them give various words of agreement, it’s not like they were planning on leaving their door open anyway. Their room is on the third floor and out the window they can see the streets are deserted and completely dark save for the light of the stars.

“You guys thought that was weird too right?” Glimmer says when the door closes and the lock is turned. Adora decides to move the draws in front of the door for good measure.

“Definitely off.” Adora agrees “I would be interested in finding out what’s got them all so scared.”

At that, Bow laughs “And recruit them for the rebellion?” When Glimmer pauses to genuinely consider it, he laughs even harder.

“STOP IT BOW! Of course we don’t want to recruit some random murderers, but if there’s magic involved, we should at least know more right?”

“Uncovering a Horde weakness would be useful to the rebellion.” Adora says, backing Glimmer up.

Bow relents despite his continued amusement. “Alright, but we need to do what we came here for first, then you can do as much sleuthing as you like.”

“Speaking of which...” Adora pulls her rolls of parchment out of her bag and lays the maps, plans and figures across the floor boards. “Let’s begin.”

* * *

A couple of hours later there’s no denying it, they’re drunk. Glimmer tries to claim that she’s just a bit tipsy but she isn’t convincing anyone. They had started off by planning in earnest, readjusting prior plans now that they have a better lay of the land but once they started passing the bottle around, their discipline quickly deteriorated.

So here Adora is, map on her lap, pins strewn all over the floor and maybe, MAYBE, she’s giggling hysterically. She’s at least pretending to be productive.

Bow and Glimmer are leaning against the wall underneath the window and as the hours passed, they slouched further and further down, which can’t be very good for their backs but Adora chooses not to say anything. She doubts she’s in the right frame of mind to articulate exactly why back health and good posture is important. Better to shelve that issue for later.

Bow has his head resting on Glimmer’s shoulder, his face turned into her neck. They are also giggling hysterically. Their giggling and leaning on each other is starting to become slightly less than family friendly and Adora is, once again, wishing that maybe they could have gotten two rooms. She understands why they didn’t but she needs to put a stop to this _right_ now. There’s third wheeling and then there’s being in the room when your best friends get it on and she would like to stay firmly in the former category.

“OKAY! Sleep time now! Everyone is going to bed!” She declares. “We’re done for the evening”.

The couple cuddled together on the wall grumble a little bit but shift into the main bed without major complaint. Before she starts setting up the cot, she fixes Bow with a look, eyebrows raised.

It means _no funny business when I’m right here._

Bow’s look in return, rolled eyes and all, means _yes, no funny business when you’re right there._

With her face turned toward her pillow, tucked into the blanket and the lantern snuffed out, she closes her eyes to try and sleep. Up on the main bed she can hear Glimmer murmuring to Bow, checking he took his chest bindings off probably, or whispering sweet nothings. Eventually the noise in the room drops to solely the sounds of their breathing. Glimmer’s blocked nose seems to have turned her into a mouth breather.

 _Poor Bow will have to deal with her morning breath,_ she thinks, _can’t say I’m sad its not me._

Adora’s mind wanders. She reviews the mission plan; hunt regularly to keep up the hunter façade, talk to locals, find out what the Horde is using to make their new weapons, find out how they make them, take the information back to Brightmoon, stop the Horde, save Etheria.

Getting Bow to go hunting tomorrow should work well, the Fright Zone citizens are so attached to their gender roles that they would probably have a fit if they knew she and Glimmer both contributed to the hunting normally. It does, however, leave the perfect excuse for her and Glimmer to mingle with the townsfolk while Glimmer’s ‘husband’ is off providing for them, because of course they are _proper ladies_ and manning the stall, supervised, is really the _full extent_ of their abilities. Since their wares got depleted today there really is no other suitable activity for proper ladies such as themselves but shopping.

Maintains their cover _and_ progresses the mission. Two birds, one stone.

More worrying to Adora right now is whatever has these people hiding every night. The Horde is well known to encourage fanatical superstition throughout their territories. Fear makes people easier to control and if they can be convinced that your enemies are a threat to themselves, then they might even get rid of them for you.

It's possible that their fear could be completely unfounded. The original rumours might even originate from the fortress on the hill, a clever way to introduce a new curfew perhaps. It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened.

It isn’t uncommon to hear of the occasional sham witch trial taking place in towns like these. Dissenters of Horde rule and practices are often arrested on charges of witchcraft, which seems coincidentally convenient for the Horde until you realise these events occur by design not chance. The women charged with witchcraft always die. They claim it’s a test but its really just an execution.

Its all kinds of fucked up. Persecution of nonconforming women aside, the criminalisation of magic is awful.

She thinks of all the good things Glimmer, her mother and her Aunt have done aided by magic and knows that the Horde ban is not in place to protect their people. It serves their agenda to keeping those people sick and poor and defenceless.

And now she’s just a bit too angry to drift into unconsciousness. Adora sighs, hoping her companions are getting a proper night’s rest at least.

She circles back to the fear of the townspeople. She would have just dismissed it normally, or left it as a low priority issue at the most, but the brief discussion with Huntara earlier is bothering her. The big lady definitely knew something and didn’t want to share. That’s not quite unusual considering Adora, Bow and Glimmer are clearly outsiders but it’s the ominous warning that is raising red flags for her. The innkeeper seemed to have decided that even they, unwelcome visitors to the town, shouldn’t risk the danger at large, whatever it might be.

Huntara is tough. She has the size, the muscle and the confidence to run her own business in this town that probably doesn’t support her very much. She must deal with violent drunks on a regular basis and something tells Adora that the intimidating innkeeper lady doesn’t scare easy.

_So, what is scaring her now?_

* * *

When the sunshine streams through their window the best friends squad heads downstairs to acquire some breakfast. In contrast to the previous evening, chatter and conversations are audible from a floor away and when they reach the ground floor of the inn they are greeted with the sight of packed tables and a busy breakfast trade.

“Looks like they adapted to losing evening business pretty well,” Glimmer murmurs, “I’ve never seen this many people in a pub at this hour.”

“I don’t feel like eating standing up,” Adora returns, “you guys?”

The other two shake their heads in response.

Adora scans the room for an empty table to grab while Bow heads over to order them all food. The only seats free are the barstools at the counter. It’ll do, so long as the tabletops have been wiped of whatever sticky substance was coating them last night. Adora has long learnt on these missions to not think about what is actually on the plate in front of her, a hot meal is a hot meal. That is definitely the case with the steaming dishes Bow brings over to them, Glimmer does wrinkle her nose but otherwise all three of them dig in.

Bow jokes about going vegan ( _I don’t know what this was but I KNOW it wasn’t ever a plant_ ) and Glimmer jokes back in kind, baiting him into talking her through the pros and cons of meat. They probably should keep this discussion a bit further on the downlow considering they _are_ masquerading as hunters.

Honestly it isn’t the worst _(scrambled eggs? Maybe?)_ Adora has ever tasted, its bearable, she just can’t leave it on her tongue for too long.

“You two will be ok today, right?” Bow asks, referencing their plan for the day.

“Yep,” Glimmer confirms, “Me and Adora will be just fine even without a strong man like yourself to look after us.”

Bow smiles at this but gives her a soft punch for her teasing. Adora watches amusedly, wondering if she should arrange to be somewhere else this evening, give the couple some _alone time._

When Glimmer excuses herself to go to the bathroom Adora turns to Bow, knowing smirk across her features.

“Stop, Adora.” Bow says.

She maintains her smirk, “I mean, I didn’t say anything.”

“I can hear your thoughts from over here.”

“Well…. I was just thinking, seems like she really likes being married to you.”

“FAKE married,” He corrects, “It’s for the cover story.” Adora rolls her eyes.

“C’mon Bow just propose to her.”

“No.”

“Please? It’ll be fun.”

Bow notices Glimmer making her way back to them and his expression visibly softens. Adora believes this just further proves her point but Bow would deny it.

“Eat your breakfast, Adora.” Bow says before Glimmer sits back down again.

She’s scraping the last bites off her plate when she hears heavy footsteps speed into the inn. From where she’s situated she can only make out panting but the messenger’s frantic gestures and wide eyes tell enough to get her interested. The new arrival quickly passes whatever news they have on to the nearest table before sprinting out. Like a life-sized game of dominoes, that table has a word with their neighbouring patrons who in turn spread the word and soon the entire breakfast trade is making their way out onto the street and down the road. Adora, Glimmer and Bow watch the strange procession with confusion. Nobody bothered to fill them in on the apparent emergency.

Huntara, the only other remaining soul in the inn, calls across the bar to them.

“You wanted to know what’s going on, Blondie? Go look for yourself.”


End file.
